Under The Three Moons
by Wgreen
Summary: When a secret UNSC military facility housing flood is overrun with Xenomorh's ODST Benny Loft Is sent in.  However when a pair of Yautja and a pack of vexed Jiralhanae get in the mix things get...complicated.
1. Chapter One:Threats, prey and the hunt

Hunting season

I Do not own Halo or Alien/predator series

Chapter One: The prey, The threat, The hunt

Dalidus was the chieftain of his pack. He was an aged warrior who had withered many battles. His countless scars were a testament to that. He was loyal to his pack brothers and twice as fierce to their enemies. With a keen sense of the jungle and an undying loyalty to his pack Dalidus had earned the right to carry his ancestor's ceremonial hammer.

Dalidus was big even by Jiralhanae standards. He stood over all of his pack brothers with a dark silver mane. What surprised everyone who meant him was his natural agility. Although he was very tall he could out maneuver any sangheili. Dalidus had proved that more than once in his personal vendetta against them.

Before the war ended Dalidus was a well respected chieftain within the covenant. Now he was an outcast hunted by sangheili warriors. Dalidus vowed on his ancestor's hammer that he would kill as many sangheili he could. Jumping from system to system in his flag ship Honor Of Intent Dalidus and his pack did just that. Any planet that had a trace of the sangheili scum Dalidus would go there and kill every single one.

Up until now Dalidus had not hit any snags. However no one could continue on as he had for long. After his last raid nine sangheili capital ships emerged from slip space. With no other choices Dalidus ordered his pack to do a blind slip space jump. At first everything was alright spotting a planet to land on Dalidus ordered that they land there. Shortly after the order however an unknown vessel fired on them crippling all primary system's systematically. Dalidus felt as if his pack was going to die here in some unknown system. Instead the ship reeled back and allowed them to evacuate.

It had been three days ago since then. Dalidus did not like it at all whoever fired on them could have destroyed the Honor Of Intent. For some reason his attackers wanted him alive and Dalidus did not want to find out why. Upon their rough landing Dalidus ordered his pack into the jungle and to conceal their tracks. Ever since they had crashed he had them moving continually, he was not going to give his attackers a chance to find him.

For now his pack was resting at the base of a tree eating a hog they had caught and cooked earlier. Haak, the youngest of Dalidus's pack and the only to not earn the manly us suffix sat away from the pack. He was a runt and a clumsy one at that so most of the pack picked on him. It was all in good fun and they did respect him, Dalidus in particular. He saw something in the runt something the others did not. Dalidus did not know what but he felt deep inside that Haak was going to be a great man one day.

Taking a bite out of his hog Dalidus let the cooked meat's juices fill his gullet. It had a sweet flavor that reminded him of a thorn beast tail. It was more chewy though and was not as tender. Looking to Haak Dalidus stood and sat next to him. He smiled briefly and patted the young man's head.

"Boy kill something so I can call you a man." Haak only smiled and nodded as he took another bite out of his share of the hog. Some of the others sneered and joked on how Dalidus was babying the child again. Dalidus just shot them a dark look letting them know to stop.

"Chieftain why do you think our attackers did this?" Haak asked with a mouthful of meat.

"Boy there is only one reason to capture us." Happy with his answer Dalidus looked to the trees. That was the only reason he could think what other reason could they have. As if reading his mind Jalus the second oldest of the pack said jokingly

"Perhaps they're savages and are hunting us for sport." The rest of the pack laughed a little at Jalus's joke. Even Dalidus found himself chuckling nothing could ever track him and his pack, let alone hunt them without one his brothers picking up their scent.

* * *

Sargent Major Benny Loft was an ODST black ops soldier. In other words Benny was an elite among elites specially trained for any situation. Surviving over twenty jumps and countless missions deep within covenant controlled space he had earned his rest. The Corps however did not see it that way. Now that the war was over the military brass had him doing small clean up operations where brute resistance was found. For now he and the rest of his squad were stationed on the capital ship "Oregon".

Passing his time in the ship's cafeteria Benny recalled his deceased father Henry. He had taught him every trick a good hunter should know. It was funny he never really appreciated his father's teachings until he was gone. It only seemed like yesterday that the two were out in the Michigan forests hunting for a prize buck. It made him smile recalling his old man whenever he was hunting.

Looking out of the cafeteria's window Benny fiddled with a red ball his father had given to him for his sixth birthday. Bouncing it against the window Benny let out an agitated sigh. He had been cramped on this ship too long and just wanted off. To pass the time by Benny listened to the others conversations. Most of them were uninteresting war stories, still others spoke about something meaningful like family. For the most part though Benny just tried drowning them out with his ball.

Just as he was getting comfortable in his seat his name echoed off of the ship's loud speakers. It was Captain John Donnell requesting that he and his team come to the command deck. Cursing silently Benny forced himself up and quickly made his way down the ship's long hallways.

As he made his way to the command deck of the "Oregon" he was greeted by his team's sniper and childhood friend Harmon "Jester" Wright. Being a wise cracking prankster Harmon lived up to his nickname. He took any chance he could to make a situation funny and if he failed try again. Only when Harmon was on assignment did he stop, somewhat.

"What do you think it is this time Sarge?" Harmon asked with a grin.

"Same as last time Harmon still hunting that damn brute chieftain." Harmon only frowned and shrugged his shoulders. He hated clean up and detail missions. To Harmon it was something the common soldier could do but the military board felt that the ODST would do it faster and better. Licking his lips Harmon uttered under his breath,

"Let's just hope the brutes are not as organized as last time."

"Yeah let's hope not" Was all Benny said before they entered the command deck. All of Benny's hand picked team was already being briefed by Captain Donnell. He stood in the center of the room bringing up various holograms of the nearby planet the Oregon was bound for. Sylvia the Oregon's A.I construct pinpointed different points of interest, safe evacuation zones and the objective. It was a remote facility located on the planet's surface. Clearing his throat Captain Donnell stated.

"Marines as you know three days ago we were tracking the brute flag ship Honor of Intent. We believe it landed on this planet. The objective is simple it's an ape hunt you know the drill. However the brutes are a secondary objective." Narrowing his eyes Benny looked over the facility. It was a five story complex with three levels below ground. As for the security it was like a miniature prison designed to keep anything in and everyone out. Looking over the entire facility a final time Benny asked hoarsely

"Captain what is this facility for?" Captain Donnell didn't answer not right away. He stepped back took a deep breath and cursed under his breath. Rubbing his eyes Captain Donnell brought up a hologram of a flood infector.

"Understand this right now Sargent Major officially this planet does not exist. There are five facilities located on the surface all personal in the facilities are expendable. These facilities were commissioned by the military board as joint experiment between us and the elites to properly research the flood." All of Benny's team went pale in the face. Until now there were only rumors and stories of labs that bred flood for study. Now it was a hard reality for Benny and his team. He had only faced the flood once in his service and he never wanted to again. Gaining back his strength Benny asked briskly

"Have the flood escaped containment?"

"We don't know, that's your primary mission to assess the situation on the planet. Gentlemen you have forty eight hours to wipe out all intelligence of this planet, it's operations and to find and eliminate the brute chieftain Dalidus." Harmon crossed his arms and leaned against the back wall. Looking sternly at the schematics of the base and asked.

"And if we don't report in after forty eight hours?" Captain Donnell looked sharply to Harmon and said coldly.

"We glass the entire planet."

* * *

Dr. Gary Varner was a seasoned scientist. He had been on the flood research project ever since it began five years ago. To him it was simply fascinating how single minded, how _driven_ the flood as a species were! Perhaps what he found most interesting was their uncontrollable need to consume. Gary loved watching the flood he loved observing them it was his passion.

Sadly most of his research was in vain. The flood were incredibly smart. They had nearly broken out of containment five times just within the past few days. Worse yet Dr. Varner did not get any of the escape attempts recorded. Each time the beasts had effortlessly avoided the perimeter camera's. It was as if they knew they were being watched. This didn't dishearten Dr. Varner though it just motivated him to try harder.

For now Dr. Varner had ordered every specimen be put in cryogenic suspension. He had misjudged their intelligence one too many times. Some time next week he would begin his research again but for now he would let his team rest. At least that was his plan and Dr. Varner's plan's never went through quite that smoothly.

Looking out into the distant sunset from his office. Dr. Varner let out a grated sigh. It had been a long day of processing the frozen flood specimen's. Leaning back in his chair Dr. Varner began to drift into a light sleep, only to be awoken by an alarm sounding. Something from _inside_ the complex had tripped one of the sensors.

Dr. Varner pressed the the loud speaker on to see what was going on. All that was heard were screams and gunfire. It couldn't be a flood, it just couldn't be every specimen was accounted for. Regardless of what it was he had to contain the situation. Acting fast he activated the emergency warning grid all throughout the complex.

"All personal that are within the designated safe zones remain calm. Lower all blast doors and signal me that you are secure." Dr. Varner waited a couple of seconds and watched a panel that indicated if a safe zone was locked down. It would remain red until the blast doors were completely sealed and the staff activated a switch to signal Dr. Varner. Watching the panel for at least a minute Dr. Varner wanted to made sure everyone was locked down.

Waiting a couple more seconds Dr. Varner activated the main defense grid. The defense grid was a specially designed weapon for flood outbreaks. It was based off of Forerunner technology that was integrated into equivalent of a covenant scarab cannon. Blasting all throughout the complex anything outside of the safe zone's would die.

Firing the main cannon for a while Dr. Varner wanted to make sure whatever it was died. After a while he switched over to a smaller variant of the weapon to sweep the air vents and water pipes. Once Dr. Varner was sure whatever it was, was dead he ordered that security do an extensive sweep of the facility.

Reclining back in his chair Dr. Varner felt a sting of guilt. That was the second time he had to enact the fail safe protocol. He knew some unlucky man or woman was in that blast and their blood was now on his hands. Choosing to shake it off Varner rationalized that it was for the greater good of humanity. Funny enough though every time he told himself that Gary Varner could barely stomach himself.

Lighting a cigarette Gary looked out his window again. The sun was now set and the twilight of this system's three moon's was beginning to shine. Taking a drag of his cigarette he couldn't help but wonder, what tripped that silent alarm inside the facility.

Little did Dr. Gary Varner know he was going to get his answer much sooner than expected. Relaxing in his chair the speaker on his desk crackled to life. One the junior scientist's Dr. Maria Huft was frantic out of her wits. She was going on about something but she was to raddled to make any sense. After listening intently though Dr. Varner pieced together what she was saying "_They weren't flood._"

Sprinting down to her location Gary _needed_ to see whatever this was for himself. Maria described them as black scaly monsters. At first Gary only thought that she was delusional but than similar reports began coming into his office. Shortly after the security team had found one alive. They had cornered it into one of the flood's holding cells and locked the creature in. How it survived the purge Gary did not know. Reaching the flood holding area several guards were present if it escaped. Ordering the guards to stand by Gary looked at the black creature through the six inch wired glass. It was a hideous, eyeless beast. It snarled and growled at Dr. Varner out of anger. Placing it's claw on the glass it hissed and revealed a tongue with a head of it's own!

"What are you..." Dr. Varner whispered under his breath. As if able to hear him the monster instantly rammed the glass and screeched an ungodly sound.

* * *

Nihko'te was aged hunter one who had survived many cycles and countless hunt's. Some would say he was as old as the ancient's and just as wise. Nihko'te was never afraid he never let anything unnerve him. Above all he respected the hunt and everything that it meant.

That is why the un blooded Da'dtou-di both looked up to and respected him. Nihko'te had taught him everything of the hunt from looking for tracks to reading the prey's movement. Now he was leading him on his first hunt for the hard meat! They had landed on this remote planet looking for soft meat instead they found the serpent! Da'dtou-di was excited he finally could prove that he was a blooded hunter!

Personally Nihko'te felt that Da'dtou-di was not ready to face the hard meat but none the less this was unexpected. Nihko'te knew where the serpent liked to nest and this planet was not where he would expect to find them. The one thing Nihko'te did expect was the un blooded pup's excitement. Ever since he saw the serpents attack the ooman settlement Da'dtou-di was over excited. Regardless of how eager he was it would do little against the ferocity of the hard meat.

Nihko'te quickly switched his thoughts over to the strange ooman ship they had shot down. Never in his long life had he seen such an advanced ship in ooman control or so oddly designed. Normally ooman ships were more angular, this one was smooth and curved like a claw. Also it was a deep purple not the usual gray steel Nihko'te was accustomed to.

What surprised Nihko'te the most though was not the ship, but how the oomans had just disappeared. when he and the un blooded had landed their was no sign of the oomans anywhere. Usually the ooman would set up a base camp and have scouting parties search for help or a better base camp. Not this time as the ooman's crashed they took off into the heart of the jungle. They left no trace of where they went, save a single tuft of silvery white hair.


	2. Chapter Two:Gearing Up

I Do not own Halo or Alien/predator series

Chapter Two: Gearing up

Kendra Herrera silently readied her AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun with it's nickname, "_Katie_" stenciled into the bullet guard. Kendra double checked the barrels and the ammo belt. Everything was in place. Placing the AIE down, Katie quickly drew her magnum side arm. She did so five times as fast as she could. Her blood was boiling, she wanted to launch.

Kendra was the weapons specialist of Benny's team. She also was the youngest. Despite that, no one on the team messed with her... Well almost everyone. Harmon and Lance never learned when to leave her alone, today was no exception.

"Hey, Herrera, need help carrying that heavy thing?" Harmon asked with a tint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah, Herrera, you look kind of tired, let us help you." Lance continued, the sarcasm doubled in his voice. Kendra only continued prepping her gear. Over the years of working with these two, Kendra had learned to just ignore them.

Her silence worked. Both Lance and Harmon shrugged at each other and stopped. Harmon turned back to his locker and loaded his 99C-S2 sniper rifle. He looked down its electronic scope and adjusted the calibration. He did this twice before turning back to Kendra.

"You nervous." Harmon asked seriously.

"Because of the Flood?" She replied quickly as she placed her 486H machine gun into the SOEIV . Harmon nodded his head. Kendra was silent for a moment then smiled and said lowly.

"Me and _Katie, _are going to love this."

"I figured you would be scared." Lance butted in. Kendra's brow furrowed and she retorted.

"I'll give you something to be scared about!" Lance just threw his arms back in surrender. He would rather face a Hunter than make Kendra angry. Lance was the demolition expert. Out of two hundred he was top of his class. As long as it had a detonator and a hint of gunpowder, he could make _anything_ go boom. It was no secret that Lance lived for explosions and the thrill of blowing up stuff. He was also Harmon's spotter when on assignment.

Lance finished loading his M90 shotgun into the SOEIV and leaned his back against the wall. Scanning the room he spotted Jin. The team's medic and tech specialist. He was kneeling with his rifle, knives and machete in front of him.

"Hey, tech head, load up! We launch in ten." Lance barked. There was only silence. Jin was... odd. At least Lance thought so. He was too silent.

"Hey, tech head! Quit thinking and –

Jin stood. He grabbed his MA5 assault rifle and looked down the sights. He smirked. Placing it into his drop pod's weapon cache, Jin knelt back down. He was praying. Jin was a spiritual man. A warrior. Bowing his head, Jin prayed a final time and stood again. He sheathed his twin combat knives and squeezed there handles. Then he grabbed his machete. It was an old weapon, one that had severed many Covenant heads. It was Jin's weapon of choice. Along the blade were many notches, thirty one to be exact. Each notch was for a Covenant Brute or Elite he had killed.

"A warrior lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting." Jin stated as he sheathed the machete. Lance just looked at Jin.

"Okay... no idea what your saying." Lance said in confusion. Kendra only laughed.

"He's saying shut the hell up and get ready yourself." Lance scowled and cursed to himself as he turned back to his pod and loaded the last of his explosives.

"Many Covenant will die on this mission." Jin said suddenly. Lance just smirked and replied.

"You said it, man."

"I was talking to my machete." Jin remarked. Lance's face fell flat.

"Well, I was too." Lance quipped

"Good." Jin replied. He took a seat in his pod and began the locking procedure, sealing himself in. Both Lance and Harmon looked at one another. Jin was a good man and loyal to a fault but both agreed on one thing. They could never fully understand him.

Then all three turned to Benny. He had been silent for the entire time. He had loaded his BR-55 and sat near his pod, his head bowed. Everyone knew that he was against the mission. Yet he agreed to it. It was his call. Looking up, Benny saw his team eying him. He hid his fear with a smile and an order.

"Alright, load up. We're launching." Benny quickly jumped into his pod, the others doing the same. Now they waited for the green light to engage.


	3. Chapter Three:Pack Mates

I Do not own Halo or Alien/predator series

Chapter Three: Pack Mates

Dalidus kept close to Haak. Although he was a runt and a child Haak was an able warrior. Yet Dalidus felt obliged to protect him. Dalidus had known Haak's father, Makidus before the end of the war. He and Makidus had been good friends for most of their lives. They had grown up together on Dosiac and fought side by side in countless battles. However, they would not serve together in the final of the war. He was bound by his promise to keep Haak safe and did not join in the final battle.

Makidus was a chieftain much like Dalidus. When his mate gave birth to Haak, Makidus charged Dalidus with the duty to protect his son. Dalidus eagerly agreed. He watched over the boy and was a second father to him. Over the years he became very fond of Haak. Now that Haak was on the cusp of manhood, Dalidus was overjoyed he had been a part of the boy's life. Dalidus only wished that the same could have been said for Makidus.

Makidus had always been bound by his honor. He was prideful man who never backed down from a challenge. During the final battles Dalidus urged him to reconsider so he could be with his son. Makidus did not listen. He would rather die a warrior then live a life knowing he had walked away from a battle. Before he had left with his pack, Makidus again charged Dalidus with his son's protection. Dalidus honored his promises.

All four of the Jiralhanae moved as swift as they could through the upper branches of the trees. It was hot on this foreign world, unbearably hot. For a human, it would be difficult to travel through. Dalidus felt himself smile. If they had not lost the humans yet, his pack soon would. Suddenly Jalus froze and began sniffing the night air. His eyes narrowed and he let out a low guttural growl. He sank his claws deep into the withered bark of tree he stood in.

"What is it?" Dalidus asked with caution. Jalus only snarled and curled his lips, bearing his fangs. Haak was in the tree next to him and watched nervously. He began to back away but Salidus held his arm in a vice like grip and hissed.

"You smell like fear. Don't be so disrespectful, Whelp! He is your pack brother he would never willingly..." Dalidus glared angrily at Salidus, forcing him into submission.

"He knows this, now silence!" Dalidus hoarsely whispered. Sticking his nose into the air Dalidus tried picking up the scent. It was faint but it was there. It was the stench of the parasite and it was thick.

"We make camp here. Tomorrow, we search for a way off of this planet." Dalidus proclaimed as he led the pack down to the jungle floor below. When they reached the ground Jalus and Dalidus had taken first watch, leaving Salidus and Haak alone.

"What do you think Jalus and the chieftain are worried about?" Haak asked plainly as he picked at his teeth. Salidus said nothing. And remained alert. Frustrated from being ignored, Haak cleared his throat and started tapping his claws against the side of the tree he was sitting under. Salidus was Dalidus's son. When they were younger, Haak and Salidus had been best friends. They were still close but recently it felt like they were drifting apart. The two sat in silence for a while longer until Salidus looked to the moon and uttered.

"I don't know what's bothering father and Jalus. I've never seen them like this before little brother. It's like they're afraid." Haak smiled. In a way it was true, they were brothers. Since Haak was part of his pack, he was his brother but they were already family. Haak started to chuckle and then he started laughing. Salidus was puzzled and looked to Haak.

"What's so funny." He asked flatly. Haak continued laughing to himself for a little and then replied with a snicker.

"Jalus and chieftain scared, it can't happen!" Salidus thought it over and started laughing as well. Nothing could possibly scare those two. Once they were done laughing Salidus cleared his throat and remarked.

"Haak, you should be more respectful to father." Standing up, up Haak walked over to Salidus and joined him.

"What do you mean Salidus?" Haak asked as he stretched and leaned his back against the back of the tree. Salidus just scratched the side of his jaw and leaned forward so his face was close to Haak's.

"I'm saying to call father, _father._" Salidus stated bluntly. Haak rolled his eyes and let out a grated sigh.

"This again? He's not really my father." Haak replied nonchalantly. Salidus bit his lip and was taken back by Haak's attitude but wasn't about ready to back down. Salidus gritted his teeth and exclaimed.

"Then you deny that were brothers?"

"I don't. I just don't see him as my father." Haak remarked. Almost as soon as he said that, Haak regretted it. Salidus let out a small aggravated snort and hissed.

"Even though my father has taken you in, fed you and _raised _you when your father couldn't. You can't give him that." Haak just dug his claws deep into the ground and retorted.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Than what did you mean?" Salidus spat. Haak was silent and turned his back to Salidus.

"You are my family." Haak uttered quietly. Salidus was about to continue berating Haak but his brother's scent was wrong. It was a morbid smell. One Haak rarely put off. It wasn't anger or sadness. It was more of a mixture of both. Haak's father was a touchy subject for him. Salidus shouldn't have brought it up. Realizing at what he did, Salidus placed his hand on Haak's shoulder and proclaimed.

"We are family, brother. I should have shown more respect, I apologize." Haak turned to face Salidus and nodded his head in agreement.

"I'll try calling him father." Salidus smiled and patted Haak's shoulder. Laying down, Salidus slowly fell into a light dreamless sleep. Haak remained awake and watched over his older brother with jaded eyes. Thoughts raced through his mind of his true family, of his true father.

"We are brothers but we're not really family. My pack, my family is dead. I'll try calling him _father... _for you." Haak whispered before climbing to the top of the tree. Haak stayed there for most the night, watching the three moons.


	4. Chapter Four:Derailed?

I do not own Halo/Alien/Predator

Chapter Four: Derailed?

After touchdown the ODST Black Ops team moved to regroup. The launch system had suffered some sort of malfunction, separating the team from the intended drop point. Benny kicked his pod door free and landed with a soft crunch. The filtered air of his helmet activated and his night vision optics automatically kicked in. All was quiet on the Com. Benny whispered a command through his throat mic but no answer. Remaining calm Benny trudged through the thick foliage with his BR-55 rifle leading the way. _It had to be a night op. _Benny thought darkly before moving to another tree for cover. After moving several feet he again tried reaching his team. At first no dice but soon enough he heard a familiar crackle of the mic.

"Shuriken reporting in Sarge. Getting a lot static on my end, you?" Benny could barely here Jin through all the white noise. So far, this mission was going downhill fast. Benny acknowledged and paused at a nearby tree. He clicked on his internal binoculars to times 4 zoom. For the briefest second he could have seen movement.

"Made contact with the others?" Benny whispered. Again there was silence and then blackout from the radio signal entirely. Shortly after there was rapid gunfire. _Cover blown, this early, it can't be!_ Benny thought as he broke into a light jog. The gunfire only grew louder, someone or something was closing in on him. Benny stopped at a nearby tree, his mind racing on where to go or what to do. Before he knew it, someone's hand was wrapped around him pulling him close.

" Quiet, Sarge." Jester's voice whispered from behind. Easing his muscles Benny melted back beside Harmon.

"Not even thirty minutes and things are getting interesting, Sarge."

"Sit-rep?" Harmon pulled Benny down low to the ground into a hollowed out tree stump and motioned to the west with his fingers. Benny locked in with his internal HUD. Movement was recorded, with targets locking on. Several men were standing back to back in a clearing and armed to the teeth. Something had them spooked. After a brief pause they again fired around in all directions. Their shots filled with panic, disorderly, yet uniformed. Just from their stance and movement Benny could tell that these men were highly trained.

"Ever since touch down I've been ghosting em. Something's tearing at them, Sarge, I don't like it. These men are professionals but... look."

"Flood?" Benny flatly remarked.

"No, we both know flood infection tactics, infect first ask questions later. Not a single infection form for twenty minutes and they have been draining ammo like it's doomsday." Benny zoomed in with his HUD. These men didn't seem to be military. He ventured to guess they were an outside contractor for the facility.

"Local fauna possibly?" Benny asked, flexing his arm from the sudden stiffness of being compressed in the tiny space. Jester shrugged and leaned backward.

"Likely, but if that's the case why haven't they messed with us?" Harmon remarked. Before Benny could answer the gunfire suddenly ceased. All four men tightened up formation took stock of ammo and started to reload. Then there was a shriek and nothing more.

"Killed it." Harmon pointed out. Benny shook his head lowly

"Then why are they double timing with the ammo?" At this point Harmon dismissed these men and grumbled lowly.

"Something just has them on edge. What now?"

"For now, we need to regroup. Have you heard from Shurkien or Blizzard?" Benny asked before shifting in his spot. Harmon tapped his helmet to signal that his throat mic was out. Then he leaned close to Benny and added.

"Got one transmission from both. They're grouped and are heading toward the first target. Figure if we he haul we can reach em by daybreak. Told em to wait before commencing with the op, don't know if it got through."

"What about Boomer?"

"Dead silent on his end, saw his pod crash it's not too far from here."

"Alright, let's go find Boomer and haul."Benny said while he thought everything over. Mics were out, team was divided, flood outbreak possible and a team of paranoid soldiers. This mission was definitely derailed. He cracked his neck and forced himself up and motioned for Harmon to ready up. If they were going to regroup before first light He and Harmon were going to need to move… _fast_.

* * *

Jin moved swiftly to keep pace with Kendra. They were inside of Compound "A" security was tight but they managed to break in through a hole they found. This place was abandoned, nothing but whispers and ghosts. Right now they were on the second level of the complex. The generator was down and back up systems were the only things running. Intel was right about one thing the built in security was off the charts. Most of the tech here Jin hadn't ever seen before. Forerunner, Covenant and Human integrated weapons... Hallie freaking luiah. If not on assignment Jin would have loved to look over the specs.

"Shuriken, tighten up." Kendra scolded. Jin shook his head and locked his focus back to his weapon's sight. Halfway down the hallway was a door marked CRYO CHAMBER LV4 CLEARANCE. Jin took one look at the lock and unhooked his slicer and went to work. Just as he clicked open the outer cover for the hardware Kendra stopped him.

"You hear that?" There was a clicking noise alright and it was right on top of them. Jin dropped low and spun on one heel so he faced the opposite hallway. Jin's eyes darted from space to space looking for any sign of movement. He tightened the hold of his MA5 and exhaled sharply.

"the pipes." Kendra stated automatically. Jin disagreed, all the ducts, pipes or anything remotely out of sight was the most heavily fortified. No this noise was from within the hallway but there was nothing. Jin gave the hallway one last look over and indicated that he was going to go back to work on the door. Kendra moved over closer to offer more cover while Jin worked. Jin's hands moved like lightening cutting cords, moving circuit boards... it was an art. As he put the finishing touches onto the door, there was an earth shattering shriek.

"Shuriken, were about to get hit, how's that door coming." Kendra growled with her trigger finger placing a lot of pressure down. Jin looked to the console and then to the hallway behind them.

"Door is like a bank vault. We're not getting through, not without fifteen pounds of explosive."

"Don't tell me things I don't want to hear, Shuriken." Jin only chuckled, took point and motioned for Kendra to fall behind him.

"Life is death." Although obscured by her face plate Jin was sure that Kendra was scowling at him.

"I hate it when you say that sort of shit." Kendra spat. Jin smiled but kept his focus forward. He wanted to personally greet whatever was ghosting them. Halfway back down the hallway Jin picked up movement on the HUD.

"Got action on the Ceiling." Jin called out. Kendra stepped forward, her HUD already locked onto what moved and fired a volley upward. Whatever was there was dropped before you could say Sunday.

"Kill confirmed?" Jin called out, backing away as he did so. Kendra took several cautious steps forward, her adrenaline edging her trigger finger to continually pump rounds down this entire hallway. With every step closer to what she killed Kendra's nerves were in overdrive. Stepping over the pile of tiny corpses she got a good long luck at the things.

"It was a bunch of fucking bats!" Kendra awaited a response but there was none. It was all silent in that darkened hallway. Kendra quickly realized she was now alone.


End file.
